PDi has supported Shell in delivering the Victory Gas Field development West of Shetland, helping bring new domestic gas into Britain’s grid. The Victory project is a single well subsea tie back located around 47 kilometres north west of Shetland, connected into the Greater Laggan Area network and routed to the Shetland Gas Plant before entering the National Grid at St Fergus. The field reached final investment decision in January 2024 and achieved first gas in September 2025.
This is the first new gas development West of Shetland since 2017 and the first new field to feed the St Fergus system since 2021, strengthening the UK’s energy security.
PDi’s role on the Victory project
Having spent more than two years embedded with Shell’s Victory team, PDi supported the development from concept through to safe start up. Their work included:
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Project engineering and design support for subsea interfaces across the Greater Laggan Area integration
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Technical assurance through readiness reviews, design verification and barrier management
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Offshore execution oversight including construction and hook up supervision and punch list close out
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Quality management support covering ITPs, NCR close out, supplier surveillance and documentation control
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Stakeholder management supporting alignment across Shell, TotalEnergies, plant and pipeline teams
Outcomes
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A fully integrated engineering team that supported right first time assurance with minimal rework
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Successful delivery of an efficient tie back by leveraging existing GLA and St Fergus infrastructure
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Offshore representation throughout execution to maintain strong safety performance and proactive quality control
What PDi says about the project
PDi states that Victory demonstrates its ability to de risk complex subsea tie backs with a strong execution focus. The company highlights the contribution of its Aberdeen based team and its 23 years of North Sea subsea engineering experience.
Project Engineer and Victory focal point, Donald Shand, said PDi’s integration within the project allowed them to demonstrate technical expertise across pipeline and structural design, installation analysis and offshore execution. He added that close collaboration with Shell and subcontractors helped maintain a one team approach and deliver first gas within the agreed timeline.
Source: OEUK
